Experiments were carried out at two centres in Leicestershire during the spring of 1928, with the object of comparing the values of mangels and dried sugar beet pulp in the winter ration of dairy cows.

Two groups of cows were selected at each centre, and the usual method of feeding for a period on one ration and then reversing, was adopted. Composite samples of the milk from each group of cows were taken at six consecutive milkings per week, during the period of the experiment. Determinations of fat and solids not fat were made, and the yield of milk at each milking recorded.

Although there are indications that the change of ration caused a slight temporary variation in the quality of the milk, the secretion of milk solids followed, in a general way, the variation in yield: This is confirmed by the average composition figures representing the whole of the milk from each particular ration.

Thanks are due to Mr Thos. Hacking for placing every facility for obtaining these data at the disposal of the author.

The mechanism by which viscogen (calcium saccharate) brings about an increase in the viscosities of milk and cream has been investigated.

The primary reaction appears to be the formation of a precipitate of insoluble (tri-calcium) phosphate. Considerable quantities of casein are carried down by the precipitate, and this co-precipitation of casein is probably the single factor which most influences the viscosity.

Casein is not directly precipitated by viscogen, but the viscosity of its solutions is slightly increased as a result of their higher alkalinity due to this reagent. This action of viscogen is relatively unimportant in influencing the viscosity of milk or cream.

Organic materials with a C: N ratio ranging from about 85: 1 to about 10: 1 were submitted to nitrification tests in an acid and in an alkaline soil during a period of 6 months. In the acid soil only pea pod meal, with a C: N ratio of 13·3: 1 showed an increase in inorganic N over control; in the alkaline soil the limit above which no nitrification will occur within a period of 6 months was at C: N = 26: 1; below this limit the rate of nitrification increased rapidly with decreasing C: N ratio. Unnitrified N was left behind in a quantity corresponding to 1·5–2·2 per cent, of the original material, the percentage being higher in the case of materials rich in N.

All the materials tended to increase the content of “a-humus” in the soil, though not to the same extent or in the same manner. More “a-humus” was produced in the alkaline than in the acid soil, except in the case of farmyard manure. Straw, sweet clover, lupin and farmyard manure apparently acted both through their lignin content and through the synthesising action of microorganisms, since they increased the amounts of both N and methoxyl in humus. Mycelium of Polyporus contains a fraction possessing the properties of “humic acid,” rich in N, but devoid of methoxyl, which persists in the soil.

The results of an investigation into the utilisation of sugar-beet pulp by ruminant animals were brought forward in a recent publication (I). It was demonstrated that sugar-beet pulp is highly digestible when consumed by ruminants. In respect of the digestibility of its N-free extractives and total organic matter, it compares very satisfactorily with maize meal. The process of drying the wet beet pulp in the factory does not depress its digestibility. Further, from the standpoint of digestibility, it is immaterial whether sugar-beet pulp is included in the rations of ruminants in the dry or the soaked condition. When, however, liberal allowances of the dried product are being fed to animals, it is desirable that the food should be well softened in water before feeding. This procedure ensures a higher availability of the digestible nutrients for productive purposes in the animal and also averts risk of choking trouble which sometimes arises, especially with sheep and lambs, during consumption of the dried beet pulp.

1. There exist in Trinidad large areas of deteriorated soils which have been under cultivation with a single short-term crop for generations. It has previously been established that these soils differ but little from those which still retain their fertility in their content of organic matter. By comparison with the latter, however, they are markedly acidic and so deficient in exchangeable calcium that a material improvement in their lime status appears to be a necessary preliminary to their amelioration. An examination has therefore been made of the means by which this may most successfully be accomplished.

2. Determinations of the contents of exchangeable calcium and the pH values of a series of liming experimental plots indicate that:

(a) Contrary to experience in England, finely ground limestone has proved a more efficient soil ameliorant than slaked lime.

(b) Single relatively large applications of lime fertilisers have given more immediate beneficial results than small annual dressings.

(c) The effect of liming appears to have been almost entirely restricted to the depth to which the soil is worked. This is doubtless due to the impermeability and lack of aeration which characterises heavy deteriorated soils.

3. A significant increase in crop yield was obtained only on those plots which were later shown to have been rendered neutral in reaction by liming, and on which the degree of saturation of the top 6 in. of soil has been raised to 80 per cent. This value is comparable with that of the fertile soils of Trinidad.

4. The experience of liming methods gained in Trinidad may be applicable to other areas of alluvial soils under cultivation in the tropics.

This series of investigations embraces studies of the more important factors, external and internal, which govern yield in field crops of cereals. It has so far dealt with the causes and influence on yield of fluctuations in density of plant population and also with certain inter-field differences of environment. Throughout, an analytical method has been employed, in which periodic observations have been made upon small samples distributed over a representative acre in a field crop. The best size of sample has proved to be a one-foot length of row, i.e. row of plants as seeded by the drill. The basis of this method—a “census” of an acre of corn—has been described and critically examined in an earlier paper (Engledow(1)). Analyses of certain external factors affecting yield have been recorded by Engledow(2) and by Doughty and Engledow(3).

Inconsistency in the returns of sugar percentages from the factories has often perplexed growers and has at times given rise to some mistrust of the analytical procedure. Consignments of beet lifted on the same day and from the same field have been credited by the factory with widely different sugar contents. This has occurred within the writer's experience, even though the precaution was taken of loading the cart loads of beet into two trucks alternately, thereby eliminating any possibility of one truck being filled with beet from a better part of the field than the other.

Though it is neither customary nor perhaps desirable to utilise sugar beet for feeding purposes, it is conceivable that circumstances might arise occasionally when a farmer would be desirous of feeding the whole or part of his beet crop. This is indicated by the fact that enquiries as to the value of sugar beet for pigs are received from time to time. During the carrying out of the investigation into the value for pigs of dried sugar-beet pulp and molasses-sugar beet pulp, an account of which work is given in this issue of the Journal (1), the opportunity was taken of making a similar study of whole sugar beet. A dual investigation was made, consisting of a digestion trial under the conditions of the metabolism room and a large-scale feeding trial under ordinary farm conditions. It was hoped that the evidence from this twofold line of enquiry would not only settle the question of the value of sugar beet in the feeding of pigs, but also throw light on the subject of the value of root crops in general for swine.

1. An account is given of the geology and mineralogy of the soils of a small area characterised by diverse rock groups, which are mainly covered by glacial drift. The topography is also varied. The soils are mainly derived from boulder clay, glacial sands and gravels, and alluvium, the remaining soils being formed on screes and hill-wash. The underlying rocks are lavas of Old Red Sandstone age and sandstones and shales of Carboniferous age.

2. A similarity in mineral content of the soils on glacial material and alluvium is shown. All these soils have a high content of fresh ferro-silicates. The soils on the screes and hill-wash are characterised by their content of rock fragments and iron oxides, but minerals from glacial material are also present, though to a minor extent.

3. The soils on the drift material contain potash, phosphate and lime-bearing minerals.

4. The varied nature of the parent materials has given rise to varied textures in the soils. The soils on the boulder clay are the heaviest, while, the soils on the fluvio-glacial material are very variable.

5. The mineral content of the matrix of the boulder clay is similar to that of the local rocks, only the rarer minerals being derived from external sources.

This paper is a record of the composition of the milk of an abnormal cow, during a period extending over three lactations. Although this cow was found eventually to be suffering from tuberculosis of the udder and lungs, no signs of the disease were apparent during the first two lactations recorded.

The milk produced by this cow was abnormal during the whole period under review. Fat percentages were very variable, but the solids not fat content was consistently low, only 2 per cent. of the total number of samples analysed exceeding 8·5 per cent. in this constituent. Protein and lactose percentages were much below the averages for normal milk, but in the case of total ash the mean figures were normal. Of the ash constituents, the soluble portion was very high and the insoluble portion correspondingly low, the former presumably indicating a high chloride content. The percentages of phosphoric acid and lime were considerably below the mean figures for normal milk.

Lactose and soluble ash percentages show a marked negative correlation, and moreover support the contention of Porcher and others that a definite lactose-chlorine ratio exists in milk.

It is suggested that an abnormally low solids not fat content (i.e. low protein and lactose) and abnormal percentages of the individual ash constituents may be a sign of incipient disease affecting the organs involved in the secretion of milk.

(1) It is proposed to estimate the amount of organic carbon in soils by determining the amount of sulphur dioxide produced in the ordinary Kjeldahl digestion. The gaseous products of reaction are passed through standard iodine solution, and the excess iodine titrated with standard sodium thiosulphate. Details of the method are given.

(2) The results obtained with a number of soils of differing character and origin are compared with the figures obtained for organic carbon by dry combustion. The sulphur dioxide method gives results which average 89.6 ±1.03 per cent, of the combustion figures. It is proposed therefore that the percentage of organic carbon found by this method should be corrected by the factor 100/89.6 = 1.116.

(3) The percentage recovery of carbon indicated by the proposed method is rather higher for pure substances but still falls short of 100 per cent.

(4) The proposed method is applicable to carbonate soils without the necessity for any correction for inorganic carbon.

(5) It is likely that soils containing inorganic reducing substances such, as sulphides will give high results by the proposed method.

(6) Absorbing the sulphur dioxide in 25 per cent, sodium bichromate, it is possible to determine the carbon dioxide by passing the gases through standard baryta in a Reiset tower. The organic carbon thus indicated agrees with that by the sulphur dioxide method.

(7) From data with certain peats, it appears that the factor 1.724 for converting organic carbon to organic matter is too low.

The scheme of soil classification which finds most favour among scientists to-day has come from Russia and is the work of a band of brilliant and enthusiastic investigators whose labours have brought some order to what was otherwise chaos. The object of this communication is to endeavour to show how it is possible to modify the views of this school so as to make them apply to British conditions, and how the majority of British soils may be brought within the envisaged scheme.

1. The form of the dispersion curve obtained by single dispersion treatment below μ/x varies greatly with different soils and with the same soil saturated with different bases. There is no connection between the proportion of very fine material (e.g. below 0·5μ) and other important soil properties. The proportion of the very fine material determined in this way would not, therefore, afford any indication of the “colloid” properties of the soil. If the proportion of fine material were estimated by a decantation method the results might be substantially modified.

2. Under the same conditions of dispersion sodium soil is better dispersed than ammonium. Sodium carbonate should therefore be the best medium for mechanical analysis.

3. No case has been met with where the proportion of clay found is affected to an important degree by the use of hydrogen peroxide.

4. With no soil tried was the number of decantations reduced by the use of acid pre-treatment; those examined gave the same clay content i f sufficient puddlings with sodium carbonate were used with or without acid.

5. No method has been found whereby certain soils can be dispersed i n a single operation as is required in the pipette method. In some cases this is due to gypsum, but there are others in which the cause of the difficulty of dispersion is not yet known.

6. In the cases examined sodium carbonate gives a higher result than ammonia when using the International pipette method.

7. For Sudan soils decantation methods appear essential, hydrogen peroxide unnecessary, acid pre-treatment not essential, and sodium carbonate better than ammonia. We are of opinion that the same holds good for many other soils.

An account is given of observations made during the first two years' treatment of grass according to the “New System of Grassland Management,” i.e. periodic dressings of nitrogenous manure followed by rotational grazing.

The grazing provided by the nitrogen and no-nitrogen plots in the two years is given, measured in cow-day equivalents.

A method of sampling the plots with a view to determining the total weight of herbage produced and its chemical and botanical composition is described.

Botanical and chemical results obtained by this method are given and discussed.

The percentage of clover on the nitrogen plots is about one-quarter of that on the control plots.

The dry matter of the herbage on the nitrogen plots has, on the average, contained 17·7 per cent, crude protein: that on the no-nitrogen plots 15·5 per cent. The average age of the grass when sampled was 35 days.

The laboratory study of the physical properties of soil and clays can conveniently be divided into three stages:

(a) Moisture content comparable to that under field conditions.

(b) Thick pastes.

(c) Weak suspensions.

The use of the plastometer for experimental work on intermediate stage is described and recent developments of the theory of the flow for thick pastes under stress are outlined. It is shown that certain constants defining the material can be obtained from the experimental data. The two to which special attention is given are the pseudo-viscosity (a quantity analogous to the viscosity of true fluids) and the static rigidity (which represents the energy required just to cause the paste to flow and a measure of the solid cohesive properties of the system). The latter quantity is related to other physical measurements made under very different experimental conditions, e.g. the resistance of the soil to the passage of cultivation implements; the effect of chalk, etc., on the soil resistance; the moisture content at which a well-kneaded mass of soil is about to become sticky.

In the first paper of this series (10)1, Keen and the present writer discussed work by earlier authors on the approximate specification of the nature of a soil by a single soil constant, in place of a detailed analysis, and described experimental work designed to show the significance of a number of simple physical measurements. The chief objects of the present paper are to describe the results obtained with such measurements as applied to a number of Natal soils, and to discuss the value of some other easily obtained physical data as a means of specifying the nature of a soil. Work of this type was discussed at the International Congress of Soil Science at Washington in 1927, and it was resolved that co-operative work on an international basis should be undertaken.

1. The nature of the replaceable base in a clay or soil exerts a profound effect on the physical properties. Clay-like properties are exhibited most strongly in the case of lithium, sodium, and magnesium.

2. The proportion of fine material in a soil (i.e. that which remains in suspension in a column 10 cm. high after 14 days) cannot be correlated with other physical properties. Thus a soil of which over 50 per cent, was dispersed to this extent was the least plastic of those examined.

3. A comparison of sodium, potassium, and calcium clays and soil showed that potassium resembles sodium in its chemical relationships as indicated by base exchange, but is very different from it in such physical properties as plasticity and permeability.

4. Using mixtures of one-half normal chlorides of two bases, calcium and potassium are absorbed in equivalent amount while the sodium absorbed is only one-sixth of the amount of either of the other two.

(1) The solubility of the potash in 34 soil samples from 13 soils typical of large areas in the East of Scotland has been determined by the methods of chemical analysis using (a) hot concentrated hydrochloric acid, and (b) 1 per cent, citric acid solution, and the values obtained compared with the quantities of potash existing in the exchangeable form. The total mineral potash has been determined for six samples and Neubauer's method of analysis has been applied to 10 samples and again compared with the exchangeable potash.

(2) The average value of the total mineral potash in the soils examined was 2·04 per cent., which indicates the presence of comparatively large reserves of potash in these soils. No relation was found to exist between the total potash, and the quantities soluble in hot concentrated hydrochloric acid.

(3) The average value of the HCl-soluble potash was 0·50 per cent, and in the profile samples there was generally an increase in solubility with increase in depth of soil.

It has been shown that dried sugar-beet pulp contains a high percentage of pectose. A number of successive digestions of 1 hour each with 0·5 per cent. ammonium oxalate at 100° C. extracts an amount of pectin equal to 34·5 per cent. of the weight of dried beet pulp, basing the determination on the weight of crude pectin precipitated when the extracts are run into 95 per cent. alcohol. A single prolonged digestion gives a yield of crude pectin equal to 32·2 per cent. of the dried beet pulp.

Digestion with acidic reagents, such as 0·5 per cent. oxalic acid, 0·6 per cent. tartaric acid, N/20 hydrochloric acid, etc., leads to a quicker extraction of pectin, owing to a speeding up of the pectose to pectin hydrolysis. The yield of pectin, however, is not thereby necessarily enhanced, since under such conditions the pectin undergoes a slow secondary hydrolysis during the extraction with the formation of reducing substances not precipitated by alcohol.

Prolonged digestion at 100· C. of dried sugar-beet pulp with water alone also leads to a satisfactory extraction of pectin.

1. The variations in production due to age have been investigated with the records of 738 Ayrshire cows for 4380 lactations.

2. Milk and butterfat production increase up to about 7 years of age and then show a decrease.

3. The fat percentage for 3-year-olds is higher than that for older cows.

4. After 3 years of age there is little change in the fat percentage with age that is of any practical significance until advanced ages are reached, when there may be a fall of importance.

5. The increase in production associated with age is probably attributable, in part, to the growth of the secretory tissue of the udder and to body growth in general.

6. Part of the increase may also be due to an improvement in functional activity through use.

7. The tendency for milk to show a slightly lower fat percentage as the cow advances in age is probably due to the fact that as the milk yield changes the fat yield changes in the same direction but at a slower rate.

8. There is little known regarding the influence of very advanced age on production, but it is probable that many cows maintain for a long time the production associated with maturity, and then decline slowly.

9. Heifers with a low fat percentage need not as a rule be expected to test higher on reaching maturity.

10. It is probable that the increase in production with maturity is associated more closely with high initial production than with persistency of production.

11. Correction factors for age are presented.